With a face that almost (almost!) makes you want to save him from sliding down his dessert mountain, this snowman brings instant cheer to any winter gathering. Plus, this is one cake where decor doesn't usurp deliciousness — there's an extra tasty (and beautiful) surprise that appears when you slice the bundts. Follow along to learn how to make this holiday treat.

To truly make this cake the centerpiece of your dessert spread, we placed the snowman on a towering "hill" of bundt cakes. You'll need a 10-cup bundt pan, a 4-cup bundt pan and a cupcake pan (the cupcakes will turn into the snowman — read on to see how).

For extra holiday pizzazz, we swirled a peppermint cake batter (dressed up with red food coloring) into vanilla batter. To start, spray your bundt pans with a flour-based baking spray. Alternate layers of vanilla batter and peppermint batter in each bundt pan until the pans are about 3/4 full. Use a butter knife to gently swirl the two batter colors together.

Then line a cupcake pan with seven paper liners. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter.

Not a fan of peppermint? Follow the cake batter instructions in the full recipe, but skip separating the portion to be flavored and colored.

In an oven preheated to 325 degrees F, bake the cupcakes for 15 to 20 minutes, the 4-cup bundt for 30 to 35 minutes and the 10-cup bundt for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a toothpick tester comes out clean. When the cakes are done, turn them out onto wire racks to cool completely.

When the cupcakes are cool, crumble them into a large bowl and add 2 ounces of cream cheese. Mix together using a rubber spatula or knead together with your hands. Squeeze a small handful of the mixture in your hand. It should hold together. If it doesn't and the mixture is crumbly, knead in the remaining 1/2 ounce cream cheese.

Time to build your snowman — and he doesn't (and shouldn't!) have to be perfect. Form three roughly ball-shaped pieces from the mixture that are small, medium and large. Flatten the bottom of the largest ball so that it appears to pool and slump to one side. Add the medium ball on top and flatten slightly. Add the smallest ball on top and dowel the three pieces together with a toothpick. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Make an easy glaze out of powdered sugar, vanilla extract and heavy cream — get the instructions in the full recipe here. Place the largest bundt cake on a cake stand or serving platter with a lip. Cover the top of the bundt cake with half of the glaze. Top the glazed bunt cake with the second smaller bundt cake. Top the second cake with the remaining glaze. You may not have to use the entire batch of glaze.

Place the chilled snowman shape on the center of the top bundt cake.

For an opaque coating on the snowman, you need something a little more hefty than the glaze. Melted white candy wafers will do the trick. Spoon the white melted candy onto the snowman shape and allow the excess to run down the sides of the cakes.

To complete your snowman, you'll need a couple chocolate sprinkles, one regular-sized chocolate chip, five mini chocolate chips, a pretzel stick, an orange-flavored fruit chew and one red licorice lace.

Cut a small piece away from the orange fruit chew using a knife and mold it into a triangular carrot shape. Break away the point of a toothpick and insert the non-pointed end into the flat side of the carrot shape.

Before the white melted candy sets, quickly add the snowman decorations — he should look a little scared (we couldn't resist)! Quickly add two mini chocolate chips (flat-side out) for the snowman's eyes. Add the two chocolate sprinkles just over the eyes for eyebrows. Press the nose into the face just under the eyes and add the larger chocolate chip (flat-side out) for the mouth. Break the pretzel stick in half and add to each side of the body, with one arm sticking upright and the other onto the lower part of the body as if it has melted off. Add the three remaining mini chocolate chips for buttons down the front of the snowman body.

Wrap the licorice lace around the snowman's neck for a festive pop of color.

Grab a vanilla cookie and cut a fun-size candy bar in half.

Heat some dark chocolate in the microwave at 100 percent power at 30-second intervals until melted and smooth. Dip the cut end of a candy bar half into the chocolate and press it on the center of the cookie, creating a hat shape. Refrigerate until set, about 5 minutes. Dip the entire cookie hat in the chocolate and remove with a fork. Place it on parchment paper and refrigerate until set, about 5 minutes.

Dab a small amount of melted chocolate onto the bottom flat part of the cookie hat and hold to the snowman's head until set, about 2 minutes.